We have enjoyed celebrating some genuinely great teachers these last few days as we have announced the building level teachers of the year. We now get to announce our overall Wyandotte Public Schools District Teacher of the Year: Mr. Brandon Siegrist. This is only Brandon’s second year in the district, but he has already shown incredible ingenuity, leadership, creativity, and relationality among staff and students.
Mr. Siegrist teaches middle school Foundations of Technology, Woodshop, and Robotics and teaches high school Construction, Manufacturing, Tech Connect and Robotics. He is the sponsor for the Technology Students Association and the Wyandotte Trap Team.
One of the things that stands out most about Brandon is his ability to connect with students. The high school principal, Matt Robertson said, “everyone should take a second to go watch Mr. Siegrist’s classes. Students that would not likely associate with one another in any other setting work together in his classes. There is a culture there of discovery, excitement, and team chemistry. There is never a discipline issue, never a time when students are not engaged, only top notch teaching and learning that is evident from the time you enter the door. He sets the standard for who we are as a district that offers real life, hands-on learning, career orientation, and workplace readiness.” The middle school principal, Jennie Butterfield said, “Brandon Siegrist is one of the most calm but energetic teachers I have ever had the privilege of working with. Mr. Siegrist's classroom is a true example of active learning. Mr. Siegrist facilitates the learning of all of his students, meeting them where they are. Life skills are being taught daily; all of his students will be able to take from here and use them in real world experiences.”
Those who nominated him said things like, “Brandon has a great relational style of teaching that also establishes boundaries because students need to know both of those things. If we are supposed to be held accountable as teachers based on our ability to make students take ownership of their own learning, Brandon is the best of us because his students are automatically taking ownership of their projects and Brandon leads them on the path to success. His classroom management skills are abundantly obvious when watching.” They said they nominated him because he “does a great job of creating relationships, building a great culture in his classrooms, and giving a place to belong to students who in some cases don't have anywhere else where they really "fit in."
They talked about how he constantly is improving the way he does his job and finding ways to improve our district: “Brandon is constantly learning new things and finding more creative ways to do his job and provide more opportunities to learn for his students. He is currently leading a project to build a greenhouse that also has rooms and other partitions available for small engine repair and various other things. The students are the ones building the greenhouse though. They are getting real life hands-on experience doing things that they will need to know for the rest of their life.”
We are lucky to have Brandon Siegrist on staff here and to now celebrate him as the 2021/2022 District Teacher of the Year!